Cardiff Redhawks
The Cardiff Redhawks are a British ice hockey team that play in the Second and Third Divisions of the British Universities Ice Hockey Association, formed in 2004. They play their home games at the Cardiff Bay Arena, Cardiff, Wales. Introduction The Cardiff Redhawks were formed in 2004 by a handful of students from Cardiff University, many of whom had never played before. Their first game was against a local team, the Cardiff Titans, on the 7th of May 2005 following an NHL exhibition game. The squad began to grow by bringing in players from neighbouring universities such as UWIC, Glamorgan, Swansea and Newport. BUIHA Record 2005 - 2006 In September 2005 the Redhawks joined the BUIHA, entering teams in the Second (Southern) and Third Divisions. The year proved to be very successful; with the A Team securing second place in their division as well as the Second Tier National Tournament title, and the B Team were runners up in the Third Tier Nationals. 2006 - 2007 The following year began with the closure of the Wales National Ice Rink and the construction of the Cardiff Bay Ice Rink. Delays in construction left the Redhawks without a home for much of the 06-07 season, forcing the A Team to withdraw from the league. The A Team represented themselves in Tier One of the 2007 BUIHA Nationals, but fared poorly, losing all their matches and placing bottom. The Redhawks found solace in the success of the B Team who managed to improve on their previous season, winning the Third Tier Nationals. 2007 - 2008 The 2007-08 season saw the Redhawks regain their stability; the A Team returned to Tier Two South, with the B Team entering their third season in Tier Three. The Redhawks also gained membership to the Cardiff University Athletic Union. Once again the A Team clinched second place with a post Christmas undefeated streak. They fell short though in the Nationals, managing only 5th place. The B Team overachieved once again, settling for 3rd place in a much more competitive Tier Three tournament. 2008 - 2009 The 2008-09 season saw the A team win Tier Two 2 South, before losing in the Tier Two Playoffs. The B team competed a clean sweep of trophies, winning Tier Three South, the Tier Three Playoffs and the Celtic Plate. They went on to win the Tier Three Nationals, dramatically winning both their semi-final and final on penalty shots, with netminder Tom Martin stopping 6 out of 6 shots, the game winning goal in the final came courtesy of Jon Griffiths. 2009 - 2010 The A team made the jump to Tier 1 South and despite getting off to a good start by beating Warwick at home 5-3 the Redhawks soon found themselves struggling with a short bench and they were on the receiving end of some heavy defeats all season long and they finished in last place. The B team having lost a lot of last years team including their top 4 points scorers (Matt Wood, Jiri Podval, Jim "Frodo" Towers and Jon Griffiths) struggled to find the form from last season finishing second in Tier 3 South and being knocked out in the group stages of Nationals. The Celtic Cup The Redhawks also participate in the Celtic Cup Varsity; an annual one off challenge game against the Edinburgh Eagles who are the only other non-English team in the BUIHA. The competition has been running for the past three years, the location alternating between Cardiff Bay and Murrayfield, Edinburgh. The 2009 match was held in Cardiff, on the 14th of March. The game ended as a 4-1 defeat for Cardiff, the closest they've come to the cup yet. The Celtic Plate 2009 also saw the introduction of the Celtic Plate; a secondary competition between the Cardiff and Edinburgh B Teams. This was held on the 15th of March, seeing the Redhawks B win the plate with a 5-3 victory. Club honours ' 2005 - 2006 ' * BUIHA Tier Two Nationals Champions (The Hopkins Plate) ' 2006 - 2007 ' * BUIHA Tier Three Nationals Champions ' 2008 - 2009 ' * BUIHA Tier Two Southern Conference Champions * BUIHA Tier Three Nationals Champions * BUIHA Tier Three Southern Conference Champions * BUIHA Tier Three Playoff Champions * Celtic Plate Winners Current A Team Roster 2009-2010 Current B Team Roster 2009-2010 Great Britain Universities Squad Members ' 2006 ' * Tom Smith ' 2009 ' * Suzi Grieve * Cath Homolka External links *Cardiff Redhawks official web site *Cardiff University official web site *Cardiff University Athletic Union official web site *British University Ice Hockey Association official web site Category:British ice hockey teams